Natalie shifted closer to look at it. “It’s got etching on both sides,” she noted.
Steven turned it over and examined the lettering with interest. Here, finally, was the solution to the code that had stumped cryptologists for centuries. And now he would get the honor of being the first man in history to decrypt not only the Voynich, but also the Holy Scroll.
Then the lights went off.
CHAPTER 25
Steven froze, ears straining for any hint of threat. The catacomb was impenetrably dark. Even after thirty seconds of standing motionless his eyes didn’t adjust. He could hear his heart beating in his ears like kettle drums, and when Natalie shifted her feet the sound seemed to be amplified fifty-fold. Steven slowly slipped the brass tablet into the back of his pants so his hands would be free for whatever was happening. He felt Natalie edge closer and do something, and then heard the distinctive snick of the pistol as she chambered a round. Then a pale wash of illumination lit their area with the flick of the flashlight switch. Steven gestured for her to turn it back off — if there was a threat, there was no point in hanging a neon light out for an assailant to find.
A sound echoed in the far distance; a muffled thud that barely reached them. Then, just as suddenly as the lights had gone off, they flickered back on. Steven held a finger to his lips so that Natalie wouldn’t speak, and then, quietly as he could, moved to the entrance of Januarius’s crypt. She followed, gun at the ready. Once they were free of the tomb, they stopped again, listening for any evidence of company. Silence was their sole companion in the halls of the dead.
Natalie slid past Steven to take the lead, weapon clasped in one hand before her, the flashlight in the other at its side, ready to flick on should the lights fail again. She moved gracefully, sure of her steps and yet soundless. They were still several hundred yards from where Umberto had opened the door for them.
Natalie held up a hand and signaled for Steven to stop. A scrape sounded from far down the passageway. Another noise echoed, this time closer.
Someone was approaching. Natalie motioned to Steven to move into one of the cavities along the way and slid herself into a depression across the passage from him. They both held their breath as footsteps moved along the stone floor, approaching their hiding place.
When Umberto shuffled into view, Steven nodded his head in warning, and Natalie quickly slid the pistol back into her purse. Steven cleared his throat, and Umberto almost fainted.
“What the hell are you trying to do? Scare me to death?” he demanded, hand clenched to his chest.
“I’m sorry. No, we were spooked by the lights going off. My young companion got frightened. What happened?” Steven countered. Natalie shot him an annoyed look at his using her youth as the reason for their fright.
“I was fiddling with the wiring, where it’s coming apart from age, and I guess I tripped something. But I got it sorted out in a few minutes. I apologize for that. Anyhow, your time’s up, so we need to get going, eh?” Umberto tapped on his watch crystal with a dirty nail.
Steven nodded.
“The tombs are fascinating, Umberto,” Natalie said. “Really. They seem to go on forever. Have you ever cataloged everything in here?” she asked, turning a beaming charm on as she pressed close to the man.
“Yes, well, they are interesting, no? I haven’t spent much time down here in forever. As a younger man, yes, and there are still more tunnels below us, but now I have things up in the real world to attend to. These are just a curiosity for me at this point in my life. I keep watch over the entrance to make sure no vandals get in and collect a meager salary from the state for doing so, but other than that and the occasional exploration by a few interested academics, nobody has been down here for years.”
“We can’t thank you enough. It’s always been my fiancé’s dream to visit, and now you’ve helped make that a reality,” she said.
Umberto grinned. “You’re a lucky man, eh, my friend?” he said to Steven.
“So I’ve been told.” Steven smiled back in as neutral a manner as he could muster.
When they reached the top of the stairs it was dusk, getting darker by the second. Steven gave Umberto two hundred dollars as a symbol of his additional gratitude, which made the old man happy. Whatever Danny had paid, and he was sure they’d be getting the bill soon enough, it was worth it. The cool metal of the tablet rubbed against his back, covered by his shirt, as they ambled unhurriedly down the path, Umberto’s eyes boring holes in Natalie’s jeans.
“You think he heard anything, with the drilling?” she murmured to Steven as they approached the gate.
“Nah. He was more interested in you than in anything we were doing in the crypt,” Steven said.
“Old pervert,” she said, her tone good-natured.
“You seem to be surrounded by them,” Steven said, regretting the joke even as he uttered the final words.
“Occupational hazard for a woman in Italy, it seems,” she fired back.
Steven cast a glance over his shoulder, noting that Umberto had disappeared back into the building’s gloom. They moved up the long drive, and Steven slowed his pace as they neared the road, then gripped Natalie’s arm to stop her. He didn’t know what it was, but he had a bad feeling. It could have been nerves from the scare in the catacombs, but he didn’t want to take any chances. And his senses were telling him that something was wrong.
“Let’s circle to the edge of the property and check out the road from there,” he whispered.
Natalie’s eyes flashed understanding, and she extracted the pistol from her purse as they moved down one of the long rows of vines. Several hundred yards further they came to a side wall delineating the periphery of the property, and Steven motioned for Natalie to approach. She did, and he boosted her foot so she could climb over to the neighboring property. Steven jumped and scrambled over the wall, to find himself in another massive field of vines and olive trees. The frontage was another brick wall running parallel to the road, the same as the catacomb. They moved to a gap in the wall and peered out.
It was already so dark that it was hard to make anything out. Steven pointed a hundred yards away, to where they’d entered the catacomb vineyard. Instead of Danny’s car, a van was parked twenty feet from the gate with two men standing beside it. Both had the distinctive shapes of pistols in their hands.
“Let’s keep moving,” Natalie advised. “This field’s huge. If we go to the far edge and climb over the wall there, they won’t see us. The bend in the road should provide cover. We’ll be out of their field of vision.”
Steven nodded agreement.
They walked for five minutes before reaching another, smaller service gate. Natalie looked through the bars and confirmed that they were clear, so Steven repeated the process of boosting her over the wall before following her. They found themselves on a road darkened to the point where it was barely recognizable, the tall trees that lined it further blocking the dim light from the low crescent moon. Natalie took her cell phone from her purse and called Danny’s number, but it went straight to voice mail.
“He’s not answering,” Natalie complained.
“I think it’s safe to say that he either turned us in or they got him. Either way, we have to assume he’s a hostile now.” Steven checked the time. “It’s seven-twenty. We’re maybe a mile from the hotel. I suggest we hoof it, given the welcome committee at the other gate.”
“It’s a nice evening for a walk,” Natalie observed as she set off across the road to one of two intersecting streets.
A car sped by them after they’d crossed. A police cruiser, which slowed down as it passed and then stopped. The brake lights flashed, and then it reversed to where they were walking. Natalie reached into her purse, but Steven stopped her.